All about nature, conservation and sustainable development

Squirrels

I once had a colleague who would play every hit song loudly, in the chipmunk version. So think of any hit song, then imagine Alvin and the Chipmunks singing it. At first, it was cute then, after a few weeks, it got tiring…. really tiring.I just had to let that out…:|

But aren’t squirrels adorable? With their little paws, large eyes and bushy tails… so so cute. Squirrels (Tree, Ground and Flying), Chipmunks, Marmots and Prairie Dogs are all part of the Sciuridae family.

Some interesting facts about them include:

Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa.

There are over 250 species worldwide. The smallest being the African Pygmy at around 13cm and the largest being the Indian giant at 3 ft from head to toe.

Females have a gestation period of 29 to 65 days depending on their size. Their kittens are born blind and rely on their mothers for 2-3 months.

They have four front teeth that never stop growing; this is to ensure that they don’t wear out to stubs as they are constantly gnawing.

Unlike Hammy in “Over the Hedge’, they are quite intelligent. In cold regions, they store nuts and seeds in preparation for winter. They also have fake burials to deceive potential thieves into thinking that they’ve stored their food there. The potential thieves then focus on the fake site allowing the squirrels to bury their stash elsewhere.

They run in erratic paths to deceive potential predators

Squirrels don’t dig up all of their buried nuts, which results in more trees… 😀 😀
Scrat